


barely a moment

by cinderfell



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Birthday Presents, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-19 23:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11324334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderfell/pseuds/cinderfell
Summary: Percy's birthday gift to Vex is completely unexpected and unbearably delightful.





	barely a moment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [griimdarks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/griimdarks/gifts).



> happy birthday to [alisha](http://vexahliia.tumblr.com/)!!!!!!

**PERCY:**  
Happy birthday, dear. You. Me. Your best outfit. Six.

 **VEX:**  
what a man of mystery

 **VEX:**  
you have my attention dear

 **PERCY:**  
Ha. That’s all the info you’re getting until it’s actually time.

 **VEX:**  
youre an awful tease you know that?

 **PERCY:**  
I love you too!

 **VEX:**  
yeah yeah hugs and kisses and all that shit

 **VEX:**  
(i love you more)

 **PERCY:**  
(Doubtful.)

* * *

She spins in their shitty little apartment kitchen for Vax, all dressed up in a dark blue dress that flows down around her ankles with a slit in the side of the skirt, her dark hair loose around her shoulders save for a tiny half-braid secured to the side with a little golden feather pin.

“Lookin’ good, Stubby,” he says, flashing her a grin and a thumbs up.

“When don’t I?” she says with a laugh.

“I don’t know, you kind of looked like shit last weekend when you were throwing up in the bathroom after drinking with Pike.”

She stops spinning, giving him a scowl. “Really?”

He laughs holding up his hands. “I kid, I kid!” He slowly lowers them. “Honestly, though, Vex. You look gorgeous. I hope your half of the birthday evening goes wonderfully.”

Vex rolls her eyes. “What are you doing for it?” she asks.

Vax hums. “There’s a pint of ice cream in the fridge, an unopened bottle of birthday cake vodka, and a blender with my name on it. Oh, also Pike is coming over. We’re gonna get trashed and braid each other’s hair and shit.”

“Nice,” she says, and she means it. Hanging out with Pike is fun, drinking while hanging out with Pike is an _experience_.

The knock on the door comes a few minutes later, six o’clock sharp, and Vex practically skips to the front door-- practically, because she’s wearing strappy black heels and doesn’t want to trip and twist an ankle on her birthday. When she opens the door, Percival is there, all tall and lanky and charming in a crisp white dress shirt, a dark blue vest, his familiar blue jacket slung over his shoulder, and his ever-present gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. On anybody else the look would be incredibly nerdy, and indeed it still is on him, but Vex is so far gone for this nerd that she doesn’t care at all. He’s nerdy-looking and handsome and she is so, so in love with him.

The bouquet of flowers he holds, all different shades of blue, is held up just a little bit more as a smile lights up his face. “Happy birthday.”

“Oh, Percy, you shouldn’t have!” With a squeal, Vex pushes up onto her tiptoes to kiss him, curling her fingers in his collar to drag him down and meet her halfway, because even in heels he still towers over her. He tastes like mint.

He pulls his mouth from hers, placing a kiss against her forehead. “But I did.”

“Where’s my flowers?” Vax calls, and they both turn to look back at him, lounging casually against the doorway leading in from the kitchen with a lopsided grin.

Percy laughs, stepping into their little apartment and up to the shorter man. After a moment of looking down at the bouquet, he plucks a more purple-tinted flower from it and pushes it behind Vax’s ear. “Happy birthday to you too, Vax.”

Vax presses a hand to his heart dramatically. “Such a gentlemen, Freddie!” With that he rolls his eyes and stands up straight again. He takes the bouquet from Percy and gestures towards the empty vase on the kitchen table. Percy nods that it’s alright. “Well, you two kids have fun. I’m gonna go set things up for me and Pike since she’ll be over here soon.”

“Tell her I said hello!” Vex says as Percy joins her at the door again. Without a word, Percy takes the jacket off his shoulder and holds it out for her, letting her slip it over her bare arms. She adjusts it, pulling it tight around her. She doesn’t even need it that badly for the chill, she mostly just likes the familiar weight of it, the faint smell of smoke and sandalwood that clings to the fabric. It feels like home.

“Tell her I did too,” Percy says, holding an arm out to Vex. Vax gives them a thumbs up before disappearing into the kitchen again. With a smile, Percy turns back to Vex. “Well, my dear. Shall we get going?”

She arches an eyebrow. “No more information about where you’re taking me?”

He gets the door for her. “Nope.”

“Not a hint?”

“You’ll see.”

* * *

She’s been sitting patiently for nearly a half hour, idly engaging in chatter with him while watching out the window as he drives, the soft sound of the radio playing cheesy top one hundred songs filling the car and spilling out through the cracked windows. The problem with this whole thing-- well, it’s not a problem exactly, more like a big old question mark-- is that Vex has zero idea where they’re going.

Now, now, _yes_ , she understands the concept of birthday surprises. The thing is, Percy not only drove by the nicer places in downtown Whitestone, but he drove clear past the rest of the city and out into the more rural areas, out where the fields scattered with farms begin to bleed into ancient forests with winding roads through them.

She has never been more stumped in her life.

Finally, Vex turns and raises an eyebrow at him. “Percival, darling?”

“Hmm?” He barely glances at her, eyes focused on the road-- which, alright, she’s willing to excuse not having his total attention this once.

“You know, when you told me to get dressed all fancy for you taking me out for a nice night on my birthday, I was expecting a dinner at a restaurant or something.”

Percy snorts. “Dear, I wouldn’t do that to you. Not on your birthday.”

Her elegant eyebrow shoots up higher. “No?”

“No. We both know you only like the idea of eating at fancy restaurants. Once we actually sit down, it loses all appeal.”

“Point,” she relents. He’s definitely not wrong. For all she’s dreamed of eating at five star restaurants her entire life, along with so many other unattainable things for a lower class young adult currently broke off her ass from college debt, now that she has a significant other with the money and means to get her there, she really doesn’t enjoy it that much. It’s just so… stuffy. She feels trapped, like everybody’s judging her, like if she laughs too loudly or flirts with Percy too blatantly or does something even slightly wrong everybody will look at her.

Also, the proportions of the food at those places are awful. Who can live off of that?

“So, why the dressing up then?” she asks, tilting her head to one side.

A small smile creeps across his face. “It’s the principle of it, I suppose. You should always look good on your birthday.” Quickly, he adds, “Not that you don’t always look good, even when you’re not all dressed up!”

Vex chuckles, reaching over to put a hand on his arm in lieu of his hand, both of which are on the steering wheel. She pats him reassuringly. “It’s okay, Percy. I know. I’m very attractive and you love me so very much.”

He rolls his eyes behind his glasses, the sunset filtering in through the tall trees on either side of the car and casting his pale features in a golden glow. He looks heavenly, and if he weren’t currently driving she would reach over and have her way with him right now. As is, she resists that impulse. Barely. “Nothing you’ve said is false.”

“I know, darling. That’s why I said it.”

“Right.”

* * *

After another ten minutes of driving, Percy pulls off onto a little side road. He parks the car a few feet off from a small cliff, and even in the darkened forest she can tell the area he’s parked is probably used for a makeshift parking lot for hikers and the like.

Vex isn’t opposed to hiking, but she certainly isn’t big on it when she’s done up all nicely in makeup and a dress and heels, for god’s sake.

Luckily, Percy makes no move to get out of the car. Instead, he puts the car into idle and leans back, looking down onto a little worn path in the woods beneath the cliff below them. She squints, seeing nothing.

She waits a minute. Then another.

“I don’t know what we’re looking at,” Vex says finally.

“Be patient,” he tells her as he reaches down and reclines his seat back a little. “It should happen soon.”

She sighs, kicking her heels off because, well, they’re sitting in Percy’s truck in the middle of the woods and all they’re doing right now is making her feet hurt, shrugging out of Percy’s jacket while she’s at it since it’s very warm in the car. She stares out into the woods for another minute before she decides _fuck it_ , and starts crawling over the car console (“Hey! Vex’ahlia, what are you--”) and plopping herself in the driver’s seat, mostly in Percy’s lap.

He makes a little noise of protest when she presses a kiss against his cheek, lightly, before it dies as she trails kisses down his jawline, fingers coming up to curl in the collar of his nice dress shirt. Hey, if nothing else happens from this, at least she’ll get to bang her boyfriend while he’s looking all spiffy in his fancy clothes and she’s looking hot as hell. There are worse ways to spend a birthday night.

Vex is halfway through unbuttoning the third button on his shirt-- and she’s endlessly delighted that Percy seems to have accepted that this is how their night is going, an arm tightening around her waist as he presses his lips into her dark hair, his other one carding his fingers through a wave of it-- while she kisses at his neck when Percy suddenly nudges her, voice a little hoarse.

“Vex.”

She hums against his skin. “I’m a little busy, darling.”

“Vex, I brought you out here for a reason--”

“Do you want to bang or not?”

“Oh, for god’s sake.” And with that Percy reaches up and cups her chin, his forefinger and thumb squishing her cheeks just a little and making her lips pout, and physically turns her face out of the crook of his neck so she’s looking out the windshield again.

Any protest she has dies in her throat when she sees what’s below them. Er, well, perhaps it’s best to say that her protests die and come out instead as a high-pitched squeal of delight.

Vex practically clambers out of Percy’s lap, swinging her knees up onto the seat as she leans forward and grasps the steering wheel, straining against the glass as she presses her forehead and nose up against the windshield like a child at an aquarium.

Walking beneath the cliff where the car sits on the worn path a few dozen feet out is a hulking mass of brown fur. And shit, Vex has loved bears her whole life but she’s never really seen one in person before. Not unless you want to count the ones in zoos, which she doesn’t really, so this moment is unprecedented.

Percy leans forward, squishing himself up against the driver’s side door to fit his face next to hers. She doesn’t even glance at him, too busy looking down at the bear in awe. “I asked around the Whitestone Rangers. Apparently he walks this same path every day around this time.”

“Oh my god,” she whispers, so low it’s almost inaudible.

The spectacle doesn’t last long. The bear stops for a moment, sniffs around a little, then disappears into the brush and out of sight.

Vex is nonetheless left wonderstruck.

“Holy shit,” she says, turning to look at Percy, who’s looking rather pleased with himself. “That was a bear.”

“Yes,” he says with a smile.

“A real life, actual bear out in the actual woods.”

“You’re so perceptive, darling.”

She whacks him on the shoulder and he laughs.

After a moment Percy gives a bashful little shrug. “I admit, I expected that to last longer. A rather lackluster gift when the gift only appears for a minute before lumbering off.”

“No, no!” She excitedly puts her hands on his chest. “I loved it!” After a moment, she quietly adds, "He was there for _barely_ a moment."

“Oh, fuck off Vex'ahlia.”

"It's my birthday, I get to make bad puns all I want and you can't call me on them." She grins. "But yeah, Percy. I loved it."

Percy lets out a little sigh of relief. “Okay, that’s good. I admit, I was a little worried, although your reaction to it, however brief, was incredibly adorable. I just remembered you lamenting the fact that you’ve never seen your favorite animal out in it’s natural habitat and, well, I figured I could… fix that.”

She presses a kiss against the tip of his nose, grinning from ear to ear. “He was so big, even from here! And pretty. Did you see the way his fur shone in the light? Beautiful.”

“Yes,” he says with obvious amusement. “Truly stunning. A magnificent beast.”

“He is,” Vex agrees earnestly.

With a small laugh, Percy reaches over the seat and into the back, into a box she hadn’t noticed sitting in the back seat of his truck until now. From there, he pulls out a nice green-tinted bottle with white accents.

She raises an eyebrow. “Wine? I appreciate the gesture, because this is truly a groundbreaking moment in my life and deserves to be celebrated with the finest of alcohol, but perhaps it’s best to hold off until you’re not driving.”

Percy looks offended. “Do you really think I’d do that? It’s sparkling apple juice. The kind we used to drink on New Year’s before we could actually _drink_ drink.”

“Ah. Well, that’s much better, then.” Vex looks down at the bottle with squinted eyes. “I think. I’ve only had this a couple times, I think. I don’t really remember what it tastes like.”

“I think you’ll like it. And if you don’t, I do have actual wine and champagne at my apartment when we get back.” After a moment he adds, “I’m assuming you’re coming back to my place?”

“Of course,” she says, turning the bottle over in her hands. “Can’t miss out on that good birthday sex and birthday cuddles.”

He snorts. “No, I suppose not.” He reaches back again, squinting at the box he pulled the bottle from. “I think I have two champagne glasses--”

Percy’s interrupted by the sound of Vex ripping the wrapping off, yanking the top off, and tipping to bottle nearly upside-down as she takes a big swig of it.

“Well,” Percy says, staring at her with amusement. “Or that. That works too.”

She covers her mouth as she lowers the bottle, too much of the juice in her mouth at once and a little trickle of it escaping down her chin. Just the most ladylike birthday girl, really. Percy raises an eyebrow at her and she swallows it, breaking into a grin. “It’s good!”

He laughs. “I told you so.” With that, he reaches over with his thumb and wipes away the little trickle of the juice on her chin. Her grin widens in response. “So, I know this probably wasn’t what you were expecting at all when I texted you, but I really do hope you enjoyed yourself.”

Putting the top back on the bottle, she props it up against the back of the passenger’s seat and cups Percy’s face, leaning in to kiss him sweetly, eagerly. Fondly. His hands settle on her waist, warm through the thin fabric of her dress. When she pulls back, she doesn’t move away, instead resting her forehead against his and leaving the tips of their noses touching.

“This is one of the best birthday gifts I’ve ever gotten, regardless of how unusual and brief it was.” She punctuates that with another quick kiss. “It’s probably only short of you fixing up the motorcycle for me last year and that time Vax took me up to that giant rescue animal ranch.”

“The one with the big dog that looked more like a bear?”

“The very one.”

“Then I do believe I’ve done quite well.”

“You have.”

Smiling, he reaches up to encompass one her hands on his cheek with one of his. “I’ll still buy you something and take you out to a nice dinner.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “Really, you don’t have to. I just want to go back to your apartment and watch some shitty one star horror movie and order in take-out and just… be with you. That’s a good birthday for me. A great one, actually.”

He presses his lips to hers again and she sighs against him, a happy warmth bubbling up in her chest. “Well,” he says, the words still flush against her mouth, “that’s a request I can quite easily and happily fill.”


End file.
